European Union some data

Surface area

European Union: 4.4m km2

Germany: 0.36m km2
Argentina: 2.8m km2

Population

Europe: 507m
Germany: 81m
Argentina: 43m

GDP nominal (USD)

Europe 34000
Germany: 45000
Argentina: 13400

Avg. temperatures Paris / rainfall

January
May
June
July
September
December

4.7C
14.8C
17.6C
20C
16.7C
5.7C

/
/
/
/
/
/

54mm
65mm
55mm
63mm
55mm
59mm

Best time to travel:

May-mid-July / September-mid October
Avoid mid-July to end of August too full
Werner Haag, April 2016

How best to travel (1)

If you only want to see two or three far away places
then take the air plane, if you are only visiting one,
you might consider renting a car.
However, if you want to see lots of things, then take
the train. Further, the (state-owned) railway
companies offer the Eurail ticket which allows
foreigners to travel all over Europe (with the
exception of the UK).
Prices (see right for up to 25-year olds) are
reasonable, which is why more than 300000
tickets are sold every year. You will meet people
from all over the world on European trains.
See http://www.eurail.com
(I was surprised at the quality of the site)
As an online timetable for all of Europe use:
http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml
What about buses? Use them for local transport
only. In some countries there are long-distance
buses but they are cheap and nasty.

Prices for the global pass, valid in 28 countries in 2nd class,

but that is where you will want to be to meet other young
people. Note: disregard the free travel days, it is only valid now.

The European rail network

..In most European countries, the network is
dense and trains are running frequently. On
average, there is a train every hour.
Thanks to high speed trains (speeds up to
320km/h) in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland,
the UK, Italy and Germany, journey times
between the big cities are short. The map on
the right shows the approximate shortest
times between major cities. For example:

London Paris (through the 50km long

Channel tunnel): 2h16m (14 trains/day)

Paris Montpellier (TGV): 3h28m

(10 trains / day)

Montpellier Barcelona: 2h56m

(4 trains/day)

Barcelona Madrid: 2h30m

(20 trains/day)

Types of trains (1)

French TGV on the Riviera
High speed trains: Except in Germany, you will have to
make a reservation, for which you will pay for example
8 in France. Watch out, the number of seats at that
price is limited, so it is best to book in advance, at least
in the high season of June to September

Intercity trains for medium and long distances:

Except for Spain (where all trains other than suburban
and some local trains need a reservation) you usually do
not have to make a reservation. But you can make one to
be sure you have a seat.

Swiss Intercity train for

more than 1000 passengers

Types of trains (2)

Local and suburban trains: You will want to take one of
these trains for travelling to a place of interest. For
example to get to the Chteau of Versailles near Paris, you
will need to catch an RER C train from the centre (e.g. Paris
Austerlitz RER) to Versailles Chteau / Rive Gauche, which
takes about 40 minutes. Trains run every quarter of an hour.

Double decker French suburban

train

Night trains with couchettes or sleepers: Sadly, night

trains with restaurant cars, sleepers and couchettes are far
fewer than in the past. They have been killed off by high
speed day trains and low cost flights. Still, a few have
survived (for the time being at least).
I need to explain: there are still quite a few international
night trains, but most only offer seats and no restaurant
cars. Some have couchettes, which have compartments with
4 or 6 bunks for both girls and boys, since you sleep in them
with your clothes on. Sleepers with 1 to 3 beds have become
rare. There are only a few trains left (e.g. in Spain, Austria,
Germany and the Eastern countries)

German night train

Types of trains (3)

Scenic trains: If you want to travel through a
region of exceptional beauty, you might want to take
a slow train. An example might be a train through
the Swiss or Austrian Alps or the French Massive
Central. An example is the train from Grenoble to
Nice (from the French Alpes to the Riviera or that
from Clermont-Ferrand to Nmes (photo on the right
- taking 4h58m with 19 stops).
Mountain railways: There are plenty of mountain
railways in Switzerland and Austria. My preferred
one is the rack steam railway to the Brienzer
Rothorn, near Berne in Switzerland. The steam
locomotive in the picture is not old. It would not
exist without the technical expertise the great
Argentinian engineer Livio Dante Porta provided.

Types of trains (4)

Luxury trains: You will not be able to
afford one of them and neither will you
want to, since you will unlikely want to be
among wealthy pensioners or the odd
couple on a honeymoon. An example is the
El Andalus with its sumptuous luxury and
exquisite food.

Vintage trains: If you are a railway buff,

or just want to experience travel as it was
100 years ago, then take one of the very
many steam trains in the UK (not running in
winter). At Horsted Keynes, on the
Bluebell railway, the station scenes of
Downton Abbey were filmed.

Steam ships
Paddle steamers: The Eurail
ticket is also valid on Swiss lakes.
I would greatly recommend a trip
on SS Ltschberg (picture) on
Lake Brienz and to visit the
Reichenbach falls, the location of
a story by Arthur Conan Doyle
and his hero Sherlock Holmes.

Accommodation: I would recommend: AirBnB

(example Montpellier, 1 guest, below), some
Hostel (http://www.hostelbookers.com) or
inexpensive hotels (booking.com)
1 CHF = approx. 1 US-Dollar

Accommodation: AirBnB, 1 guest, example Berlin

Note: Berlin also has reasonably priced Pensionen

Accommodation: AirBnB, 1 guest, example Paris

Summer Trip (1 month)

Visit the cities and places:
London
Paris
(2h16)
Bordeaux
(3h13)
you might want a stopover in the Basque Country
Madrid
(9h36)
Cordoba
(1h42)
Sevilla
(0h42m)
Barcelona
(5h35)
Nice
(9h40)
Florence
(7h)
Rome
(1h30)
Venice
(3h45)
Vienna
(10h)
Prague
(4h)
Berlin
(4h31)
Hamburg
(1h42)
Copenhagen (5h15)
Stockholm
(5h15)

Summer Trip (1 month)

Visit the cities and places Alternative
incl. Switzerland, excl. Scandinavia:
London
Paris
(2h16)
Berne
(4h01)
Montpellier (5h56)
Madrid
(6h16)
Cordoba
(1h42)
Sevilla
(0h42m)
Barcelona
(5h35)
Nice
(9h40)
Florence
(7h)
Rome
(1h30)
Venice
(3h45)
Vienna
(10h) crossing Alps
Prague
(4h)
Berlin
(4h31)
Hamburg
(1h42)

Winter Trip
(22 days)
Visit the cities
London
Paris
Bordeaux
Madrid
Cordoba
Sevilla
Barcelona
Nice
Florence
Rome
Venice
Vienna
Prague

and places:
(2h16)
(3h13)
(9h36)
(1h42)
(0h42m)
(5h35)
(9h40)
(7h)
(1h30)
(3h45)
(10h)
(4h)

Great Britain (England + Wales + Scotland + N. Ireland)

Must: London
Options: Oxford, Woodstock, Bristol

Houses of Parliament with Big Ben, London

London is probably the most cosmopolitan city in the world.
It is vibrant and utterly popular with tourists from all over
the world. But when you have seen London you have not
seen England, so I would recommend you take for example
a trip for example to Oxford or Bristol.

London: Most popular tourist

attractions:
There are a wealth of internet sites that
advise on what there is to see, complete
with information, pictures and rankings.
An example is:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/
Thus I will not recommend any specific
attractions for the cities mentioned on
the following slides.

Primrose Hill, London

Basement of Kings Cross

Station, London

Bristol: Why not a day trip to Bristol (1h40 from London Paddington) to visit the Steam Ship Great
Britain? It was the first ocean-going ship with an iron hull and a propeller. It lay rotting at the
Malvinas before being taken back to Bristol to be restored as museum ship.

Blenheim Place: Combine the visit to this outstanding stately home

with a visit to Oxford. Take a train from London Paddington to Oxford (running
every 10 to 20 minutes, journey time 1h) and the Bus S3 (every 30 minutes)
from there to Woodstock (ask the driver for the palace). The great statesman
and Second World War Prime Minister Winston Churchill) was borne there

Typical Semi
(semi-detached house):
It is located in Timperley, in the
South of Manchester and was
built in 1937.
We lived here from 1989 to 1991

France

France not only has very attractive cities, it

also offers a lot in the countryside, such as a
long and beautiful coastline, picturesque
villages and a lot of chteaux (some offer B&B).

Musts: Paris, Versailles

Options: Nice, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Reims

Chteau de
Versailles:
It was the centre of
political power in
France from 1682 until
1789. To get there,
you will need to catch
an RER C train from
the centre (e.g. Paris
Austerlitz RER) to
Versailles Chteau/
Rive Gauche, which
takes about 40
minutes. Trains run
every quarter of an
hour.

Bordeaux:
Doesnt this
tell everything about
the quality
of life in
France?

Nice: The beauty of the Nice area and its mild Mediterranean climate came to the attention of the
English upper classes in the second half of the 18th century, when an increasing number of aristocratic
families took to spending their winter there. The city has a lot to offer: an attractive old centre, a
beach, posh hotels, street cafs and good restaurants.

One of the
thousands of
chteaux in France.
It is owned by an
English couple who
offer B&B.

Spain

The beauty of Spain is for the most part in

its cities, which are connected by the largest
network of high speed trains in Europe.
Popular with European tourists are the
beaches, which overseas tourists are usually
not particularly keen on.

Musts: Barcelona, Madrid, Cordoba

Options: El Escorial, Granada, Sevilla,
Santiago de Compostela, Mallorca

Barcelona:
Quite possibly the
most popular city
with young people in
the whole of Europe.
The typical Spanish
city reminds me of
some Argentinian
cities (and vice
versa). The
difference is, given
Spanish history, that
most cities have a
very attractive old
part.

Barcelona: The famous Spanish architect

Antoni Gaud (1852-1926) designed some
unusual houses as well as a cathedral that
is still under construction.

El Escorial:
It is the most important
architectural monument
of the Spanish
Renaissance. It is a
palace, a monastery and a
burial place for the
Spanish kings and was
completed in 1584.
Take a train from MadridPuerta de Atocha a El
Escorial from where you
can walk or take a taxi.

Whats the name of this city?

It has a roman bridge

It has a mezquita cathedral, into which

they put a Christian cathedral, a monstrous
act of vandalism some people say.

And it has the Judera.

So, whats the name?

Mallorca: Hugely popular island in the Mediterranean

Mallorca: Many young people come more for the night life than the beaches

Italy

Must: Venice, Rome

Options: Florence, Pompeii

Venice

Rome

Pompeii
was an ancient city near Naples.
Pompeii, along with
Herculaneum and many villas in
the surrounding area, was mostly
destroyed and buried under 4 to
6 m of volcanic ash and pumice in
the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
in AD 79.
Sadly, the city is not maintained
well due a lack of funds.

Czech Republic
Must: Prag

Prag:
Old town

Germany

Must: Berlin
Options: Hamburg, Dresden, Munich

Berlin:
Reichstagsgebude
(Houses of Parliament
of the German Federal
Republic).

Berlin: And thats what it looked like at the end of World War II
Sadly, most German city centres are not very nice since they have been
destroyed in World War II and were rebuilt in a hurry afterwards.

Berlin: Nearly as
popular with young
people as Barcelona.
And popular too among
young Israelis.
It has lots of sights
and a great night life.
The pictures I got
from my daughter
shows a beer tent,
a Bavarian (south
German) cultural
import

Switzerland
Musts: Zrich, Bern
Options: Lake of Lucerne, Lake of Brienz
rack railway to Brienzer Rothorn
Dont go to: Jungfrau Joch

Bern: Swiss Capital and Unesco world

heritage site

Zrich: Swiss
Economic Capital
with the University
hospital, the
Federal Institute
of Technology,
the University of
Zrich in the
foreground and the
etliberg in the
background

Lake Morat
Mont Vully is
the place where
we live

Mont Vully:
Once in 20
years snow

New Gotthard base tunnel:

At 57km, it is the longest tunnel in the world to be opened in December 2016. It has been built both
for freight and passenger trains and will shorten journey times between Zrich and Milano.
However, it will make your journey much less scenic than on the current route climbing up to 1115m
above sea level.

Denmark

Must: Kopenhagen

Denmark is the country where, according to some surveys, the happiest people in the world live. My
Swedish colleagues teasing take on it: a jolly good life, but short, due to excessive lifestyle, heavy
smoking and drinking. They have point: Life expectancies Denmark 80 years, Sweden 82 years.

Copenhagen:
Nyhavn, the old harbour
(right)
The Little Mermaid (below),
a small and unimposing
statue, is a Copenhagen icon
and has been a major tourist
attraction since 1913.

Copenhagen:
Tivoli, a kind of Disney Land, but
much better some would say, in the
very centre of the city

Sweden

Must: Stockholm
Sweden is wonderful in summer with it
long days - well if it isnt raining

Stockholm: Old town

Combined road/rail bridge

connecting Copenhagen in
Denmark with Malm in
Sweden.
Some trains run direct from
Copenhagen to Stockholm in a
little over 5 hours.

Stockholm Vasa Museum:

The Vasa sank after sailing about
1,300 m into her maiden voyage in
1628. She was salvaged with a
largely intact hull in 1961.
A dedicated museum was opened in
1990, which has been visited by 29
million people to date.

Belgium

Must: Bruxelles
Options: Brgge

Bruxelles:
European Capital